'Downhill' Trailer: Will Ferrell And Julia Louis-Dreyfus Are In Crisis In The American Remake Of 'Force Majeure'
When it was announced that there would be an American remake of Ruben Östlund's excruciatingly good Swedish comedy-drama Force Majeure...well, it was all downhill from there. Fittingly, that remake, starring Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as a couple in crisis, is titled Downhill. But with a comedy all-star team in front of the screen and an Oscar-winning duo behind the camera, could Downhill actually reach the heights of its Swedish predecessor? Watch the Downhill trailer to find out.
Downhill Trailer
Jimmy Kimmel Live! premiered the trailer for Downhill, which stars Ferrell and Louis-Dreyfus as a couple whose hope for a happy family ski vacation get sent off the cliff — literally. At the Swedish ski resort they're staying at, a controlled avalanche goes off uncomfortably close to where the family is sitting, leading Ferrell's character to grab his phone and make a run for it, abandoning his distressed wife and children. The pivotal shot is a recreation of the scene from Force Majeure that went viral on Twitter earlier this year.
Force Majeure is one of the most bitterly uncomfortable films I've ever seen, the slow disintegration of a marriage chronicled in painstaking detail after a father's selfish acts shatters the illusion of a happy family. Downhill looks...funny, I guess? There are some nods at the unsettling marriage tension, but it's played more for laughs than anything. There are some hints at the twisted humor of the Swedish original (which I would even hesitate to call a comedy), especially in the film's Valentine's Day release date. Nothing like celebrating love with a harrowing comedy about a marriage in crisis!
Downhill also stars Zach Woods and Miranda Otto in supporting parts. Succession's Jesse Armstrong pens the remake, while Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, the Oscar-winning screenwriting duo behind The Descendants, direct.
Here is the synopsis for Downhill:
After barely escaping an avalanche during a ski vacation in the Alps, a couple is forced to reevaluate their lives and how they feel about each other.
Downhill opens in theaters on February 14, 2020.